Easy8: Global success requires a fast website

From zero to a hundred in a second

Designing a solution for a new presentation website for us at PUXdesign was not difficult, but it was preceded by a careful analysis of options. The client insisted on an open-source solution, which led us to choose the path of CMS Orchard Core connected to Gatsby.js (an open-source framework based on React that handles the generation of static pages). 

Through CDN Amazon CloudFront, we ensured that data does not need to be downloaded directly from the server with every visit. As a visitor, this combination of functionalities guarantees that you can access the new website even from the other side of the globe and it will load really, really fast – the Easy8 website now reloads in just one second instead of almost four seconds!

Content migration that saves tens of thousands

In addition to speed, Easy8 also values language versions. The websites come with ten different versions to allow people from all corners of the world to request services. This is why the client asked us to securely transfer all original content to all three presentation websites, including metadata and original URLs. And it was quite a lot – the Easy Redmine website alone had a scope of three thousand pages, while Easy Project had a bit more – four and a half thousand pages.

Now you might think that migrating such a large amount of content must have taken hundreds of hours. Our developers thought of this as well. They wrote an importer that automatically transferred all data from the old CMS to the new one. They then focused manually only on specific issues. This saved them time to work on other parts of the project, but more importantly – this step saved the client tens of thousands of crowns.

CMS that can handle multiple language versions

With open source CMS, we can play around, so we can fully customize it to the client's vision. In addition to migrating the original content, we also proposed a way to easily edit new content on the website and allowed administrators of individual versions to edit texts in their language. 

Once the client creates a new landing page for a specific version, all content and layout from the English version is automatically copied. The content editor, who is a business partner of Easy8 in another country, will gain their own access to the CMS to modify this landing page as needed: changing text, adding images, videos, metadata, or adding additional modules to the page. However, this person/content editor from another country does not have access to other versions or pages, thus avoiding the risk of making unwanted changes elsewhere on the website.

The launch itself was unusual

The uniqueness of Easy8's websites in the number of language versions was a sign that the launch itself would not proceed in a typical manner. Due to the size of the entire project, we launched it gradually. To ensure everything went smoothly, it was necessary to communicate everything in detail and carefully with the client. First, the English and Korean versions were given a new look, while the rest of the versions remained at their original addresses. Some visitors saw the website in the old version, while others already saw it in the updated form.

We fully involved the client in everything

The client manages content editing themselves after the project handover. During the project finalization, we organized a short training for Easy8, where we explained and demonstrated everything to each participant. Employees smoothly transitioned into the process of maintaining the website. And even if they were struggling with something, our customer support department was ready to assist them if needed.